According to new documents received by Judicial Watch and exclusively provided to Fox News, Maryland's most populous county, Montgomery County, launched a "psychoeducational lesson" teaching children in schools that there is a "dual pandemic" involving COVID-19 and "systemic racism." Materials recommended that teachers buy the Ibram X. Kendi book "Antiracist Baby" as "the perfect gift" for "ages baby to age 3."
The documents come amid intense debate about critical race theory (CRT) in schools, after Virginia Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin won the 2021 governor's race on a platform banning CRT. Many parents have opposed CRT – a framework that involves deconstructing aspects of society to discover systemic racism beneath the surface – as divisive and racist.
"This material details how extremist race politics and CRT are being used to target children for political ends," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement on the documents. "Politics should immediately be removed from the curriculum of Montgomery County Schools. These CRT-laden teachings have no place in any American classroom."